#satellite production facility

[nasa]

Roman's primary structure hangs from cables as it moves into the big clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

What Makes the Clean Room So Clean?

When you picture NASA’s most important creations, you probably think of a satellite, telescope, or maybe a rover. But what about the room they’re made in? Believe it or not, the room itself where these instruments are put together—a clean room—is pretty special. 

A clean room is a space that protects technology from contamination. This is especially important when sending very sensitive items into space that even small particles could interfere with.

There are two main categories of contamination that we have to keep away from our instruments. The first is particulate contamination, like dust. The second is molecular contamination, which is more like oil or grease. Both types affect a telescope’s image quality, as well as the time it takes to capture imagery. Having too many particles on our instruments is like looking through a dirty window. A clean room makes for clean science!

Two technicians clean the floor of Goddard’s big clean room.

Our Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland has the largest clean room of its kind in the world. It’s as tall as an eight-story building and as wide as two basketball courts.

Goddard’s clean room has fewer than 3,000 micron-size particles per cubic meter of air. If you lined up all those tiny particles, they’d be no longer than a sesame seed. If those particles were the size of 16-inch (0.4-meter) inflatable beach balls, we’d find only 3,000 spread throughout the whole body of Mount Everest!

A clean room technician observes a sample under a microscope.

The clean room keeps out particles larger than five microns across, just seven percent of the width of an average human hair. It does this via special filters that remove around 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns and larger from incoming air. Six fans the size of school buses spin to keep air flowing and pressurize the room. Since the pressure inside is higher, the clean air keeps unclean air out when doors open.

A technician analyzes a sample under ultraviolet light.

In addition, anyone who enters must wear a “bunny suit” to keep their body particles away from the machinery. A bunny suit covers most of the person inside. Sometimes scientists have trouble recognizing each other while in the suits, but they do get to know each other’s mannerisms very well.

This illustration depicts the anatomy of a bunny suit, which covers clean room technicians from head to toe to protect sensitive technology.

The bunny suit is only the beginning: before putting it on, team members undergo a preparation routine involving a hairnet and an air shower. Fun fact – you’re not allowed to wear products like perfume, lotion, or deodorant. Even odors can transfer easily!

Six of Goddard’s clean room technicians (left to right: Daniel DaCosta, Jill Bender, Anne Martino, Leon Bailey, Frank D’Annunzio, and Josh Thomas).

It takes a lot of specialists to run Goddard’s clean room. There are 10 people on the Contamination Control Technician Team, 30 people on the Clean Room Engineering Team to cover all Goddard missions, and another 10 people on the Facilities Team to monitor the clean room itself. They check on its temperature, humidity, and particle counts.

A technician rinses critical hardware with isopropyl alcohol and separates the particulate and isopropyl alcohol to leave the particles on a membrane for microscopic analysis.

Besides the standard mopping and vacuuming, the team uses tools such as isopropyl alcohol, acetone, wipes, swabs, white light, and ultraviolet light. Plus, they have a particle monitor that uses a laser to measure air particle count and size.

The team keeping the clean room spotless plays an integral role in the success of NASA’s missions. So, the next time you have to clean your bedroom, consider yourself lucky that the stakes aren’t so high!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[eretzyisrael]

By Michael Bachner

Israel’s widespread airstrikes in Iran on Saturday crippled Iran’s ability to produce long-range ballistic missiles in a blow that will be hard and time-consuming to recover from, and rendered crucial energy facilities vulnerable to future attacks by destroying air defense batteries protecting them, according to multiple reports citing Israeli, American and Iranian officials, as well as satellite images analyzed by experts.

The strikes, which Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said reflected capabilities developed over two decades, indicated much greater freedom of operation for Israeli warplanes in striking Iran if the current conflict continues to escalate, as well as a setback in Tehran’s ability to continuously fire missiles at the Jewish state, which Jerusalem apparently hopes will serve as a deterrent against further attacks on the Jewish state.

The strikes targeted sites that reportedly include the secretive Parchin base near Tehran, which was used in the past for research and development of nuclear weapons, as well as a factory that manufactures drones.The attacks on the air defenses caused “deep alarm” in Iran, The New York Times reported citing three unnamed Iranian officials — one from the country’s oil ministry — since it rendered defenseless Khuzestan Province’s Abadan oil refinery, Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex and an adjacent major port, as well as the Tange Bijar gas field in the Ilam Province.

In addition, the report said citing the Iranian officials and three Israeli officials, the strikes disabled three Russian-made S-300 air-defense systems at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and at the Malad missile base near the capital. This is in addition to a strike in April that took out an additional battery in the Isfahan Province.

[mlb-a-rewrite]

The Guardians

They are cool in concept but don’t make, like, any sense in the actual show. Fu starts off as just some dude with miraculous and then we see the Celestial Guardian and the Miracle Eating senti-monster thing and it just gets confusing and contradictory.

So I am running with the concept but editing it heavily and I’ve decided that I’m going to explain who The Guardians are by explaining Fu’s backstory.

The Story

Fu was born to a rural, Chinese farming family in the mid 1900’s. He had many older siblings and a few younger ones and was prone to getting lost in the crowd. The family struggled to survive, having to sell of their products to keep their land leaving them with virtually no crop for themselves. As a result, the older, more able-bodied members of the family got most of the food.

So Fu starved and he suffered.

He tried to help around the farm, to earn his keep, but he was too weak, too malnourished to lend any real aid. Even if he did manage to help to any substantial degree, he was ignored and forgotten.

So one day he left. It wasn’t a big deal, those who noticed his departure from the family didn’t care, and neither did he. He was determined to find a better life for himself.

In his free time, Fu often wandered through the countryside, occasionally visiting the village, and during his visits, he had heard about a distant and reclusive vihara of monks who took in starving children. Fu himself wasn’t particularly religious, having never meditated or prayed, but he wasn’t going to pass up the chance of a full stomach.

Fu hiked through mountains and forests, scrounging for any food he could find and sleeping in trees. Eventually, he stumbled upon a path, strong and sturdy that ran through the forest. It was out of place in the lush surroundings, tan and solid and level, but it was a sign of civilization so Fu took it.

Eventually, Fu met other travelers, all children like himself. They journeyed up this path together, slowly growing in numbers, until they stumbled across it.

The vihara was large and made primarily of stone, with smooth and imposing pillars laid in a large clearing. In the vihara, Fu and the other children were clothed and fed and housed. The clothes were coarse and itchy, the food only coming once a day and tough and tasteless, he slept on hard, wooden floors, but wood was better than dirt and any food was better than none so he stayed. The monks gave him and the other children free shelter and sustenance for a few days, but that soon changed.

One day Fu and the other children who had arrived at similar times to him were gathered and told they were now required to earn their keep. This was the moment that Fu and the other children realized these were not monks.

The first thing they made the children do was work; hard, laborious, back-breaking work. Fu had watched his family perform this kind of work his whole life but had never been healthy enough to fully appreciate how exhausting it was. Still, Fu remained determined, knowing this was his only real option. Other children left in search of another place to take temporary refuge in, but some remained.

With time, the strenuous labor morphed into learning to fight. They still labored, but it was no longer purposeless. They worked to build strength so they could fight better. If the children failed to perform to the expected standards, they were sent away with a pack of food and water.

Fu did not leave. He was not sent off. No, he remained, determined to see this through.

By this point, Fu was a teenager and his education began. Him and the other teens still worked and trained, but this was interspersed with history lessons on the vihara, which the children learned was actually the central base of a group of people known as The Guardians.

They learned how The Guardians formed, how they had slowly spread out across the world, and formed satellite facilities. They learned that this temple remained the base of operations. They learned what The Guardians were guarding.

They were magic jewelry pieces called “miraculous”. They learned the basic functions of the miraculous and were told that further details would only be rewarded by those who proved themselves. They learned that miraculous were scattered about the world. They learned that the miraculous had been used for evil throughout history. They learned that people were not to be trusted with such power.

They learned that The Guardians collected miraculous and stored them in a secure facility. They learned that only Guardians who completed the trials were allowed to know this location. They learned that only Guardians who were worthy were allowed any access to the location.

The children trained until they became teenagers and the teens trained until they became adults and the adults set out into the world on their trials.

The trial was how a follower became a Guardian. Followers were tasked with finding any artifacts relating to a miraculous or a miraculous itself and bringing it back to the vihara. If they succeeded, they were granted status as a Guardian and given new, more important responsibilities.

When he was old enough, Fu was sent out with a group of 5 other monks, many of them far older than him who had been searching for Miraculouses the majority of their lives. He spent a long time on the road, traveling in search of these mystical pieces. They tracked down every rumor of unnatural occurrences, but still, nothing. It was years since he had been back to the temple, he had grown older, harder, more calloused, but still, he was determined to only return when he had found a Miraculous. His compatriots who started the journey with him slowly dwindled in numbers, all returning back to the temple to rest and recollect their thoughts, but Fu refused. He would not fail.

Eventually, Fu’s determination paid off in England. He had found a girl, no older than he was when he first set out to the temple, with hair so blonde it was white radiating around her. She came from a family with a long history of importance and she adorned a piece of jewelry Fu knew had to be a miraculous. 

So he stole it. Swiftly and deftly he removed it from her person and with the piece first pressed in his palm, he returned to the vihara he hadn’t seen in a decade.

When he returned to the temple with the miraculous and was immediately granted the title of Master Guardian, a title only rewarded to those who discovered an actual miraculous. No other Miraculous had been found for decades, he was the first in so long to find one. 

As such he was informed of immense knowledge. He was told that those who found miraculous related objects became Guardians, those who found second-ring miraculous were Master Guardians, and those who found first-ring miraculous were Celestial Guardians. He was told that The Guardians were in possession of 19 miraculous from around the world and that they were in possession of the only complete miracle box that remained. This miracle box was born here, in this temple, when human civilization in modern-day East Asia was first forming. The vihara was built here in honor of that and protected the box. It was now Fu’s turn to play a role in that protection.

Fu was allowed to train with the turtle miraculous, a powerful miraculous from the original miracle box. He trained diligently, quickly befriending the kwami Wayze and picking up on the properties of the miraculous swiftly. He trained with it during the day, practicing so he would be familiar with it should the need to use it arise, and returned it to the First Miracle Box stored in the vault at night.

It was a simple yet rewarding routine. Fu had never felt a greater purpose or sense of fulfillment. 

But then the vihara was attacked.

An army of miraculous wearers swarmed the temple at night. The followers and Guardians held off the attackers while the Celestial and Master Guardians rushed to the vault, but when they arrived they realized they had been followed.

The attackers spoke in accented Mandarin about how The Guardians had failed in their duties. They thought they were protecting the world of the dangers of miraculous when in actuality they had been stripping people of their ability to protect themselves. They were erasing history cultures never knew existed. They were playing God.

Every Guardian of every rank fought. It was bloody and primal, a fight where anything went. Fu had managed to get ahold of the First Miracle Box and as he looked over the carnage, he realized The Guardians would not emerge from this fight as victors. His best course of action was to flee, to keep the First Miracle Box, the most important item The Guardians had in possession safe.

So he ran. He ran far, never stopping until he couldn’t run anymore. His body gave out in Riquewihr, a small rural town in Eastern France. He took some time to recover, to eat and rest uneasily as he devised a plan.

Fu would need to hide. He didn’t know if other Guardian temples had been attacked and couldn’t risk reaching out for fear of revealing his location. For now, he needed to lay low and keep the First Box safe.

He thought that hiding in plain sight would be his best opportunity. An old Chinese man with no knowledge of the French language would be conspicuous in rural settings. He had a better shot at blending in if he was in an urban setting.

So Fu left for Paris.

Notes

Okay that was long and there were a lot of words so I���m going to do an overview of all that here as well as add a few more details/clarification. I’m getting tired so this will be bullet-pointed sorry not sorry.

The Guardians are a centuries-old cult organization that trains members to collect Miraculous and protect them

They collect miraculous objects that relate to them or insinuate their existence

So this could be a dormant senti-monster or a text that mentions a miraculous holder

They are trying to wipe all knowledge of miraculous existing from the public’s minds so that they remain a secret since people cannot be trusted with this kind of power

The Guardians take in young children under the age of 10 to start preparing and testing them

Those who are being prepared for or are trying to become Guardians are simply called followers

Guardians refer to followers who return an object referencing a miraculous

Master Guardians refer to followers who return with a first-ring miraculous

Celestial Guardians refer to followers who return with second-ring miraculous

Guardians/followers collect miraculous and Master/Celestial Guardians train with miraculous so they know how to use them in case of an emergency. They do not permanently hold onto a miraculous, rather only wearing it for a few hours at a time and exclusively for training purposes.

The group that attacked The Guardians vihara attacked all the other ones

I’ve been referring to this group in my head and notes as the “Anti-Guardian League” which is a dumb as hell name I have been workshopping for 2 months so please if you have a better idea lemme know

The placeholder name is pretty spot on in explaining them though. Basically the Anti-Guardian League wants to destroy/abolish The Guardians because they think people should have access to miraculous. Miraculous formed all over the world as a representation of cultural beliefs and The Guardians have no right to take that away

Basically basically The Guardians are the British Museum and The Anti-Guardian League is all the countries that want their shit back

Fu became a follower under the age of ten (idfk his exact age man its irrelevant)

Fu was questing to become a Guardian and returned with the miraculous in the very late 1990’s, like 1999 or smth

The vihara (temple) is attacked a few years later, so like 2002ish

Fu flees to Paris immediately and is in Paris for the rest of his life

He is old but not unrealistically old when he meets Marinette/Adrien and all that

He doesn’t reach out to The Guardians on his own because he doesn’t know if it is safe to so he diligently protects the miracle box himself

Fu was basically raised in a cult highly religious sect and was brainwashed raised into believing that The Guardians are infallible people

He trust(ed/s) everything they say to a fault and accepts their knowledge as fact without questioning it ever

That was how he survived, that was how he was accepted into their ranks, was through his unwavering and unquestioning loyalty

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Wed night  - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

❗️INJURED IN THE ARAMSHA ATTACK.. increases to 18, soldiers, 6 serious.  Also of note, there was no alarm, and no interception attempt?

⚠️IRAN EVACUATES FACILITIES IN SYRIA.. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah have reduced the presence of their senior officers in Syria, and evacuated various facilities.

⚠️TRAVEL TO IRAN SUSPENDED.. The German airline Lufthansa extends the suspension of its flights to Tehran until April 30.

⚠️UNIFIL HIDES.. All UNIFIL forces in Lebanese territory entered shelters.  It is possible that this indicates a broad attack that will be carried out in southern Lebanon.

⚠️GPS JAMMING LEBANON.. Lebanese residents report disruption of GPS devices, TV and satellite channels and cellular communications in Tzur and the south.

▪️GAZA - NUSIRAT.. a week of activity in the center of the Gaza Strip in Nusirat. IDF fighters successfully destroyed an underground tunnel that crossed the Gaza River, another 5 underground combat complexes, and 2 rocket production sites. In addition, the extension of the Netzer corridor to the south was successfully completed. And dozens of terrorists were eliminated.

▪️TIME MOST INFLUENTIAL.. Rachel Goldberg Polin, the mother of Hersh Shacht, who was kidnapped in Gaza, was included in the list of "100 influential people" by Time magazine.

▪️ECONOMY - SHEKEL.. with tensions in Israel, the shekel has lost a bit of value, now at 3.78 to $1. 

▪️ECONOMY - CEO PAY.. highest paid public CEO in Israel, CEO of Teva pharmaceuticals.   He makes $8 million per month, or NIS 30 million per month.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Vision-based navigation system enables satellites to approach or avoid other objects in space

Mounted on a robotic arm attached to a 33-m long rail, a camera system is brought closer and closer to this scale-model satellite, recreating the experience of a rendezvous in space.

European Space Agency's Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) Rendezvous, Approach and Landing Simulator, GRALS—part of its Guidance, Navigation and Control Test Facilities at the ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands—was used by Lithuanian company Blackswan Space for the testing of their autonomous satellite navigation technology.

This Vision Based Navigation (VBN) system enables satellites to identify and approach or avoid other objects in space with the help of AI—in a way akin to self-driving cars.

"As the satellite numbers are growing rapidly, such capability is key in enabling us to not only better manage the increasing space traffic, but also service satellites that need repairs or are simply out of fuel," notes Marius Klimavičius, founder and CEO of Blackswan Space. "We see a growing demand for our product as the new market of in-orbit servicing emerges."

ESA's GNC System Engineer Irene Huertas García explains, "At the beginning stages of vision-based technology developments, space scenarios are simulated using software. As maturity of the developed solution increases, we need a more representative real-world 'hardware-in-the-loop' testing in visual conditions resembling space. GRALS enables such test conditions, including darkened surroundings and a sun-like light source as required."

Joris Belhadj of the GNC Test Facilities adds, "The lab's model satellite—called BlackGEO– has been manufactured to contain typical elements of a geostationary satellite's topography, with characteristic satellite surface materials including multi-layer insulation and solar cells to enhance its optical representativity. The satellite was also produced by Blackswan under ESA contract, and any customers of our laboratory can now make use of it."

By leveraging the capabilities of ESTEC's GRALS, Blackswan has successfully demonstrated the potential of Vision Based Navigation to enhance space traffic management and enable in-orbit servicing. The company's access to the GNC facility was supported through ESA's General Support Technology Program (GSTP).

The collaboration between ESA and Blackswan Space is strongly backed by the Lithuanian Space delegation. Following the successful test campaign, the delegation has committed to provide ongoing funding to advance Blackswan's VBN system to TRL 6 within the next 12 months, with an in-orbit demonstration mission planned for 2027.

ESA is currently developing its own in-orbit servicing mission, RISE, targeting telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit.

[spitblaze]

Heehee hoohoo Theriandroid design :)

TOP SECRET - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

Ravus Industries product- Unique Frame AEBER model, serial no. XXXX1069

Status: Decommissioned. Missing, assumed deactivated or scrapped. [OUTDATED - SEE ADDENDUM FOR FURTHER DETAILS]

Model is pictured here with artificial skin removed and hair pulled back to examine eye socket after last authorized maintainence. Please note that artificial skin affixed to the neck upwards is not removable to protect sensitive sensory and motor components.

The AEBER model was constructed in secret to conduct information and asset retrieval on behalf of Ravus Industries. Purposes they have been successfully utilized for include: stealth, espionage, theft, assassination, and information gathering. The android was given highly advanced artificial intelligence with a focus on visual cognition and quick decision making in order to facilitate this purpose. Identity formation is a known result of AI tuned past a certain threshold, and as a result the unit self-identifies as 'Therion', and should be referred to with 'they/them' and 'he/him' pronouns.

Physical features include a unique lithe build and highly maneuverable joints as well as extra artificial muscle and ligaments in order to provide maximum flexibility, agility, and speed. Fingertips, palms, and the soles of the feet are padded with specially textured carbon fiber and fitted with electromagnets that the AEBER model can activate at various intensities. This is to ensure optimal grip and balance at all times. All extremities are also fitted with individual adjustable counterbalances for this purpose.

Unit was decommissioned April 301X due to disciplinary issues and obsolescence.

ADDENDUM

Addendum 1: AEBER unit, aka 'Therion', has refused a programmed assignment. The unit's ability to refuse tasks is a new development and will need further study.

Addendum 2: After reconditioning, unit is no longer refusing tasks. Unit expresses great distress when given assignments involving assassination. Due to reasonable conflicts with ethics programming, concerns can safely be ignored.

Addendum 3: Unit is refusing orders once more, reconditioning unsuccessful. Due to development of newer AEBER model ('Gareth') and conclusions of Ravus Industries Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board, 'Therion' is scheduled to be decommissioned and placed in long-term storage.

Addendum 4: AEBER unit 'Therion' has been lost after a break-in of the Ravus Industries long-term storage facility, along with several other non-intelligent assets. Unit has deactivated or damaged their internal GPS and cannot be located by satellite. Proprietary technology and the top-secret nature of this unit dictate that location and re-acquisition are a priority.

Addendum 5: Unit has been located in the Cliftlands area after checking in to a Ravus Industries authorized engineering location for repairs. Unit seems to have taken heavy cosmetic damage and lost one visual sensory component. Diagnostics indicate that they are otherwise healthy.

Addendum 6: Search of the Cliftlands has turned up no trace of 'Therion', and unit has not been seen or recorded in any locations for the past six months. Human testimony has also turned up no leads, with no sightings within the same 6-month time frame. Unit is currently listed as missing, assumed deactivated or scrapped as of August 302X.

Addendum 7: Unit has been sighted in the Riverlands as of March 303X, six years after being listed as missing. Retrieval is once again considered a priority for this unit after the loss of 'Gareth'.

[dzthenerd490]

File: The Boys - Compound V

SCP#: AHR

Code Name: The Super Drug

Object Class: Keter

Universe of Origin: Υ-17: "Broken Masquerade"

Special Containment Procedures: Samples of SCP-AHR are contained at Site-AD and stored in the Level 5 area of the biohazard Labs. Any sort of experimentation must be done in the newly constructed Modified Cavafy Reality Concealment Testing Facility of Site-AD as past testing has shown it to be the only area to withstand the unpredictability of SCP-AHR. Testing must be approved by at least five Level 4 Foundation staff members or by the Site Director Dr. Wicked. At the end of testing all subjects must be terminated and their DNA collected to be placed into the local Zartion Hominid Replicator to allow future testing with minimal hazard. 

In the event of a containment breach the entirety of the Facility is to be put on lock down and Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 “Nine-Tailed Fox” and Mobile Task Force Hera-5 “Watch Dogs” are to be deployed immediately. 

Hosts of SCP-AHR out in the wild are to be observed by the MTF Command through Foundation satellites and hacked surveillance. They are to be reported on any potential source of blackmail or any other weaknesses that the Foundation can exploit. Once this is done, they are to be led to an area where they can be easily ambushed. Mobile Task Force Dionysus-10 “Hero Killers” is entrusted to use the exploitable weaknesses of the SCP-AHR host to contain or neutralize them easily. 

Description: SCP-AHR is a strange drug created by Group of Interest: Vought International meant to be their main and most valuable product. When SCP-AHR is injected into a living being it will target their DNA and increase a certain aspect by rewriting their entire DNA. This process is rather painful especially towards an individual who is 5 years or older with those of even older age getting the worst results. However, when someone who is 4 years or younger, or preferably a newborn they will not experience such pain but instead become more easily infused SCP-AHR. It is believed the reason for this is because a younger child or baby is obviously still developing and thus once the SCP-AHR has altered their DNA their body can grow up to better adapt to said alterations. Though said alterations are not always common for human DNA so it might not always lead to something the body can handle regardless. 

SCP-AHR alters the DNA by granting the host the ability to enhance certain aspects of themselves; for example, it can increase their speed, their strength, their intelligence, as well as their durability, most of these aspects are universal to all those who take SCP-AHR but can differ to various degrees. However, SCP-AHR can also grant the biology of the host new abilities that would otherwise be impossible to the human body. Such abilities include the ability to stretch the body, turn skin into steel on command, fly, talk to animals, create fire or other elements from the hands, and much more. 

Despite its seemingly beneficial properties, SCP-AHR has no limits in what it can grant nor what it can increase. For example, SCP-AHR can increase the chances someone gets cancer, increases your body size without granting direct control to the host, causes someone to phase through matter without ever becoming solid again, and much more terrible effects. The effects get worse when someone already has a horrible effect such as a fatal disease or worse. For example, someone who has cancer will have that cancer turn into a parasitic monster. Someone with blood disease can have their blood mutate in horrific ways. Then there's someone with a memory disorder will gain some kind of teleportation or phasing ability that makes them go on insanity rampages; killing hundreds without knowing what they are doing. 

Despite these terrible effects Vought International has not concerned itself very much with making altered versions of SCP-AHR in order to minimize the effects. The best they decided to create was SCP-AHR-24. SCP-AHR-24, or Temp V as it is called by the Company, is a military drug created to give soldiers powers for 24 hours and afterwards they will be normal again with no lasting effects. However, this was only the promise as SCP-AHR-24 actually gives the host brain cancer and a quick but painful death if they take 3 or more dosages; furthermore, there have been reports of hosts becoming heavily mutated as well. In other words, the only time Vought International decided to be somewhat responsible, they only made a worse drug. 

SCP-AHR was discovered in 1945 after World War 2 had ended, thought it was created much earlier. Frederick Vought or as he was known [Data Expunged] when he was working for Obskurakorps was experimenting with the first version of SCP-AHR on Jewish prisoners provided by the rest of the Nazi party. However, near the end of the war after Hydra revealed itself and declared independence away from the rest of the Nazi party as well as the rise of PENTAGRAM with its star defender Captain America, he knew it was time for a change. Frederick Vought escaped to america and changed his name but revealed SCP-AHR to PENTAGRAM in exchange for a pardon of all his crimes by the president. The president agreed and soon after the Foundation found out leading them to injecting him with [data expunged] killing him in the same year of 1945. Though to the public he appeared to have died due to natural causes. 

Now pardoned Fredrick Vought created SCP-AHR and had volunteer subjects injected to create a whole batch of super soldiers. The one who stood above them all was Soldier Boy who was advertised to be even better than Captain America in every way. Unfortunately, due to Captain America disappearing and Soldier Boy still being alive and well he was viewed as better by the public and thus was recognized as a real American hero while Captain America was often seen as a failure. Due to the Foundation and the rest of the ACPA being forced to cover up all information about the Red Skull and the rest of Hydra the world never knew of Captain America’s real heroism, nor did they know that Soldier Boy never actually did anything. He only just showed up in movies and commercials to advertise the war while Captain America did the real work. 

This trend only empowered the newly formed Vought International to continue this ploy of granting regular people SCP-AHR and giving those who had the best powers to be recognized as heroes. Though in reality they were celebrities that only advertised for Vought International and participated in staged criminal acts to obtain fame and glory all for the sake of more money, drugs, and prostitutes. It is for this reason and the fact that Vought International is one of the main reasons that the veil of Secrecy was broken in the first place is why they are viewed with hostility by the Foundation. It is with hope that Foundation experimentation and testing will allow us to find a way to combat SCP-AHR without major repercussions. 

Update - 2015 - The Foundation has created SCP-AHR-Null which is a drug that neutralizes the anomalous abilities of those infected with SCP-AHR. This is planned to be merely the first step in eradicating Vought International's power and crushing the company for good. There is still the fact that they are heavily protected by the insurance of Goldbaker-Reinz Ltd. The Foundation cannot afford to stand against Goldbaker-Reinz Ltd or at least not do so without heavy consequences.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

[rjzimmerman]

‘Red Flags’ on Climate: U.S. Methane Emissions Keep Climbing. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The United States’ booming fossil-fuel industry continues to emit more and more planet-warming methane into the atmosphere, new research showed, despite a U.S.-led effort to encourage other countries to cut emissions globally.

Methane is among the most potent greenhouse gases, and “one of the worst performers in our study is the U.S., even though it was an instigator of the Global Methane Pledge,” said Antoine Halff, the co-founder of Kayrros, the environmental data company issuing the report. “Those are red flags.”

Much of the world’s efforts to combat climate change focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which result largely from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, and whose heat-trapping particles can linger in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. But methane’s effects on the climate — which have earned it the moniker “super pollutant” — have become better appreciated recently, with the advent of more advanced leak-detection technology, including satellites.

Unlike carbon dioxide, methane emissions don’t derive from consumption, but rather from production and transportation of the gas, which is the main component of what is commonly known as natural gas. Methane can leak from storage facilities, pipelines and tankers, and is also often deliberately released. Methane is also released from livestock and landfills, and occurs naturally in wetlands.

The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is now more than two-and-a-half times as much as preindustrial levels, and more than half of the world’s methane emissions are man-made.

Its presence in the atmosphere dissipates in roughly 12 years, a relatively short span of time, but numerous studies point to its heat-trapping effects as being as much as 80 or more times stronger than carbon dioxide’s. That means it can have more immediate consequences for the climate.

In 2021, the United States was among the first signers and promoters of the Global Methane Pledge, which set a target of reducing global, man-made methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels within a decade. The pledge has been signed by 158 countries.

[ultimate-worldbuilding]

Creating a Space Station

Name and Location:

Name of the space station

Orbital location (e.g., around a planet, moon, or in deep space)

Any unique features or characteristics of the location

Background and Purpose:

Brief history and reasons for the station's construction

Primary purpose or mission of the station (e.g., research, colonization, defense, trade, mining, etc.)

Key organizations or entities involved in its establishment

Design and Structure:

Overview of the station's architectural design and layout

Different modules or sections of the station (e.g., living quarters, research labs, docking bays, etc.)

Key engineering feats or technological advancements used in its construction

Size and Population:

Dimensions of the space station (length, width, height)

Estimated population and demographics (humans, aliens, robots, etc.)

Capacity for expansion and accommodating future growth

Systems and Resources:

Life support and Resource systems: Air generation and filtration, Water purification and recycling, Waste management, Artificial gravity, Temperature and air pressure control, Radiation protection, Fire suppression systems, Medical supplies and tools, Food production, Maintenance and Repair tools and facilities

Energy source and storage: Solar power, Nuclear fusion, Advanced batteries, Fusion reactors, Harvesting solar flares

Living Quarters and Facilities

Description of residential areas (individual quarters, communal spaces, recreational facilities)

Water block

Medical facilities and healthcare services available

Education and training facilities for residents and their families

Scientific Research and Laboratories

Different types of laboratories and equipment available depending on the stations’s mission

Astronomical observatories, Biological Laboratory, Climate and Environmental Studies, Planet observation and Research, Rock Analysis Facility

Transportation and Docking:

Docking bays for spacecraft and shuttle services

Transportation systems within the station (elevators, maglev trains, etc.)

Maintenance and repair facilities for visiting spacecraft

Security and Defense:

Security measures and protocols

Defense systems against potential threats: Shielding technology, Defensive satellites & space drones, Cloaking Technology, Countermeasures (flares, countershots, etc), Intruder Detection Systems, Surveillance and AI protection, Protection by AI or Hacker from outside hacks, Self-Repair System

Security personnel and their roles and ranks

Communication and Information Systems:

Communication technology used for inter-station and interstellar communication

Data storage and retrieval systems

Access to networks anddatabases

Trade and Economy:

Types of goods and resources traded on the station

Cargo of the space station

Economic systems

Currency used

Marketplaces within the station

Social and Cultural Aspects:

Societal norms and cultural diversity among the station's residents

Recreational and entertainment facilities (cinemas, sports arenas, etc.)

Events or celebrations unique to the station's culture

Governance and Administration:

Station hierarchy and governing bodies (administrators, council, etc.)

Laws and regulations specific to the station

Interactions with external governing entities (planetary governments, interstellar alliances, etc.)

Exploration and Discovery:

Expeditions or missions launched from the station

Discoveries made during exploration and sample gathering efforts

Spacecrafts and vehicles associated with the station's exploration activities

Environmental Considerations:

Measures taken to mitigate the effects of microgravity or radiation on residents' health

Environmental controls and simulations for recreating gravity and natural environments

Preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity on the station (if applicable)

Emergency Response and Crisis Management:

Protocols for handling emergencies (fires, system failures, medical emergencies, etc.)

Emergency evacuation plans and escape pods

Training programs for emergency response teams

Relations with Other Space Stations or Entities:

Collaborative projects or joint initiatives with other space stations

Trade agreements or diplomatic relations with neighboring stations or colonies

Conflict resolution mechanisms for inter-station disputes

Notable Individuals or Figures:

Prominent leaders from the station

Accomplishments and contributions of notable residents

Astronauts, scientists, or pioneers who have called the station home

Challenges and Risks:

Environmental and technological risks faced by the station

Political and social tensions within the station's community

External threats and conflicts affecting the station's stability

Future Expansion and Development:

Plans for future expansion and upgrades (where are they gonna get the resources for this?)

Integration of new technologies, scientific advancements into the station's infrastructure

Long-term goals for the station

[usafphantom2]

Restoration of the Smithsonian’s Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik

March 27, 2024 Vintage Aviation News Warbird Restorations 0

Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik arrived at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. November 18, 2021. (Smithsonian photo by Mark Avino)

United Fuel Cells

By Adam Estes

In the desperate and cataclysmic struggle that was the Eastern Front of World War II, which the countries of the former Soviet Union still call the Great Patriotic War, the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik (Shturmovik being a general term for attack aircraft in the Soviet Air Forces) was deemed by Stalin to be just as vital to the Red Army as air and bread. Designed by a team led by Sergey Ilyushin in 1938, the prototype for what would become the Il-2, then called the TsKB-57, first flew a year later in 1939 and was just beginning to enter production and operational service when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. As the relatively few Shturmoviks built up to that point where rushed into service, most of the factories tasked with building the Il-2s were forced to hastily relocate east of the Ural Mountains, where unskilled workers struggled to keep up with the production quotas sent from the Kremlin, but as the tide of war turned in the Soviets favor, the Shturmovik, much like the T-34 medium tank, would meet the Germans with numbers and determination. They were flown by crews from across the Soviet Union, who served as pilots and rear gunners, while ground crews worked tirelessly to repair and rearm Shturmoviks returning from the front.

Over 36,000 Il-2s of both single-seater and two-seater varieties were manufactured, making it the single-most produced military aircraft in aviation history. With its armored cockpit and engine compartment and wide array of armaments, from 23mm cannons to unguided rockets and various types of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle bombs, the Il-2s provided close air support for Soviet infantry and armored units, and were a vital part of Soviet military aviation, from the defense of Moscow to the Battle of Berlin. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, many Il-2s were exported to the Soviet Union’s new satellite states, such as Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Mongolia, and Yugoslavia (though this latter state would soon become a non-aligned nation during the Cold War). The Il-2, which would be codenamed the “Bark” by NATO, also led to the development of the Il-10 (NATO codename “Beast”), which served not only in the latter stages of World War II but in the Korean War as well. A number of Shturmoviks can be found in museums in Eastern Europe, though three examples have made their way to the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including a single example currently under restoration at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

The Museum’s Shturmovik at its current location at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Image by Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

The identity of the Shturmovik in the Smithsonian is still surrounded by mystery and ambiguity. It is a composite aircraft made from the remains of three or four Shturmoviks recovered from the bottom of lakes near Leningrad and Murmansk in the early 1990s. With the fall of the Iron Curtain t, it suddenly became easier for Western warbird collectors and restorers to recover wrecks of German and Soviet aircraft from the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War. In addition, it opened once-classified former Soviet archives to Western historians. And while more wrecks would be recovered up to the present day, the current situation with the Russo-Ukrainian War and the subsequent sanctions from NATO countries in response to Russia’s aggression has made it increasingly difficult for old wrecks to leave Russia or for Western scholars to visit those same archives.

However, during the 1990s, a Russian team of restorers would reassemble a Shturmovik in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) out of several recovered wrecks. At the time, the Smithsonian was informed by Russian sources that the basis for their Shturmovik had been one that had been shot down on the Leningrad front on March 15, 1944 while being flown, and was being flown by Lt. Ivan Maksimovih Andreyev and Sgt. Goncharov. Later investigative work has revealed that there was little information to substantiate the story, and with no data plates recovered from the wrecks, the National Air and Space Museum has since retracted their earlier stance. Another complicating factor in terms of the restoration was the way in which the aircraft was assembled in Russia. In the article The Flying Tank, written by James R. Chiles in the June 2022 issue of Air and Space Quarterly, restorer Bill Hadden said, “It appears that they used paint stripper and sand blasting and whatever was needed to remove corrosion and old paint before rebuilding the airplane…. For instance, the serial number was painted on in several places when they were manufactured…. With essentially all the original paint removed, we may never know the identity of our airplane or its particular service history.” Nevertheless, the Russians installed an original, albiet non-operational, Mikulin AM-38 V-12 inline engine, reassembled the landing gear, and refurbished the cockpit. After decades of submersion in the frigid Russian waters, the wooden tail assembly had fallen apart, so a new assembly was built. Following all of this, the reassembled Shturmovik was coated in primer, but the final paint scheme was never completed because a deal had been made for the Smithsonian in a trade agreement.

A view inside the cockpit of the Museum’s Il-2 Shturmovik. Image by Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

In the spring of 1995, the still-unpainted Shturmovik arrived at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland. At the time it had gone to the Garber Facility, aviation enthusiasts could go on pre-arranged, docent-led public tours of the facility’s numerous warehouses and its restoration shop. But in 2003, with the opening of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, the tours gradually came to an end, and those aircraft that had not gone to Dulles before the opening of the massive new museum would remain at Garber, away from public view.

The beginning of the ongoing renovations to the National Mall location would see some aircraft pulled out of Garber to be eventually displayed either at the National Mall or at the Udvar-Hazy Center, and with a new layout in store for the museum’s World War II in the Air gallery, the Smithsonian’s Shturmovik seemed the perfect fit to bring light to the Soviet perspective of World War II aviation. On November 18, 2021, the Il-2 arrived at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, where visitors can view the ongoing restoration projects from a second-story glass mezzanine.

Overhead view of Museum Specialist Jay Flanagan working on the new tail section of the fuselage he is building for the Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik in the background, while Museum Specialist Bill Hadden works on the horizontal stabilizer in the background in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. Image by Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

After it arrived in the Engen Restoration Hangar, NASM restoration specialists began analyzing the Shturmovik and preparing it for restoration. In this evaluation, the wooden tail reproduced by the Russian team in St. Petersburg was considered to be a poor facsimile with numerous structural problems. Luckily for the Smithsonian, enthusiasts of the Shturmovik were willing to help, providing access to manuals and reference materials, which would provide valuable information once translated into English.

The restoration staff has received further assistance from the Pima Air and Space Museum of Tucson, Arizona, which is home to another Il-2 recovered from the Eastern Front. Pima provided the NASM restoration team with digital copies of their engineering drawings used in their own restoration. These have been especially helpful in the refabrication of the tail action, which differs only from those built in wartime Soviet factories with the use of modern epoxy resin as opposed to water-based wood glues.

Museum Specialist Tony Hare adjusts the landing gear flaps for the Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. Image by Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

The restoration has also revealed traces of the original paint on several components, with the standard black, brown/tan, and green scheme on the upper surfaces of the aircraft, and the light blue paint on the underside. The Smithsonian intends to replicate this scheme, which was common on most Shturmoviks of the mid to late-war period. Other discoveries made during the restoration have led NASM officials to conclude that the aircraft was assembled in late 1943 at Zavod No.18 (Factory No.18) at Samara (known during the days of the USSR as Kuybyshev).

When the Shturmovik is complete, it will be placed on public display for the first time at the National Mall location’s upcoming Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air Gallery alongside several other aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 flown by French defector René Darbois (previously covered here: Smithsonian’s Bf 109 Unveils a Hidden Story of Resistance ), the museum’s North American P-51D Mustang and General Motors FM-1 Wildcat.

With the IL-2, the Soviet perspective of WWII/Great Patriotic War, made all the more prescient by the current war between Russia and Ukraine being fought on some of the same battlefields in which Soviet aircrews flew their Shturmoviks against the Germans, can be told in ways that the original gallery, opened in 1976, was unable to do. Among the stories of Soviet aircrews that the museum intends to highlight is that of Anna Yegorova, who after flying reconnaissance missions in the Polikarpov U-2/Po-2 biplane, would fly 41 of her 277 combat missions in Shturmoviks until she was shot down in August 1944, and was held as a prisoner in the Küstrin sub-camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, until it was liberatedin January 1945. Like many Soviet POWs, Yegorova was interrogated by the NKVD, and it would be twenty years before she was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, the country’s highest military decoration.

Besides the example being restored at the National Air and Space Museum, there are two more Il-2s in the United States. Il-2m3 s/n 305401 has been restored to airworthiness at the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington, along with parts of three other Shturmovik wrecks and powered by a Jose Flores-built Allison V-1710 in lieu of the original Mikulin AM-38 V-12 engine. The other is the aforementioned example in the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, and is currently on static display in the museum’s Hangar 3.

For more information on the Shturmovik and other projects, visit Homepage | National Air and Space Museum (si.edu).

Special thanks to Dr. Alex Spencer for his contributions to the making of this article.

@Vintageavaitionnews via X

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 069 - Arriving at the Weapon

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 3 Episode 18 - Azati Prime

We've finally arrived at Azati prime. Everything is quiet and tense. Degra is celebrating the completion of the weapon with the Xindi Council.

The planet is protected by a dense sensor field of satellites, which Enterprise won't be able to pass through. The plan to get through it is to use one of the Insectoid shuttles we previously picked up to get through. That plan however, requires Mayweather and Trip to figure out how to fly the thing. Easier said than done, but they get the hang of it. Meanwhile a monitoring station picks up Enterprise. Enterprise launches a strike on the station to keep their secrecy.

Trip and Travis get the scans of the Weapon's production facility, then head back aboard. Apparently blowing up the weapon would be a suicide mission, so Archer offers himself up. Which is when the future people intervene once again. Daniels picks up Archer and drops him on another Enterprise (I'm assuming it's from one of the Other Star Treks, kind of like that one time the 10th Doctor Console Room showed up in the 11th Doctor era), 400 years in Archer's future.

Daniels urges the Xindi to make peace, because apparently the people who built the spheres will destroy the Galaxy if Humanity is destroyed or Archer is killed. It's fun to see that Archer and T'Pol's positions on Daniels and Time Travel have reversed. It's now Archer who doesn't believe him, and T'Pol who's fully accepting of what Daniel's has to say. And T'pol pulling an emotional argument of "I don't want you to die" is a beautiful but subtle peak in her arc of embracing her emotions.

Archer's goodbyes were touching. Him switching his usual "look after porthos" speech from "don't give him any cheese" to "Slip him a peace of cheese every now and then" hit me harder than I was expecting. I kinda knew he was going to go back on it, killing of the captain mid-season just isn't how TV works, but honestly they sold it hard enough to have me question if they were actually gonna do it.

Archer however is captured before he can blow up the Weapon. We're then treated to Archer sassing the reptilians while being tortured which was fun, his banter and insults were great. Archer convinces the reptilians that he'll only talk to Degra. Meanwhile, T'Pol decides to talk diplomacy with the Xindi. Archer tells everything he knows about the Spheres to Degra, in an attempt to convince him to abandon the weapon project.

While this conversation is ongoing, Enterprise is being shot out of the sky by the Reptilians. Communications are down, and the Reptilians are transfering Archer to another prison. Things are left on a pretty dire cliffhanger.

Unfortunately, like most of the main story-arc for this season, I've found it a bit dull. The Time Travel stuff was interesting, and I liked that it continued down Degra's kind of Oppenheimer "I am become death" arc from Stratagem. He really doesn't want to build this weapon, and I can't wait to delve into that more. The ending struggle aboard the collapsing Enterprise was also some really good action. I am excited to see how this cliffhanger is resolved.

[at-liberty-news]

Galactic War Status: Days 8 & 9

We've got a lot to cover this time; let's get right into it!

It seemed our track of the days of the Galactic War was off, and we have corrected older broadcast transcripts to fix this mistake! With that said, day 8 of the Galactic War was rather uneventful. Progress continued at a brisk pace on Phact Bay in the Jin Xi sector after Pandion-XXIV was fully liberated and dreadfully slowly yet steadily at Vernen Wells in the Hydra sector. Additionally, Super Earth tasked the Helldivers with completing a minimum of eight non-critical "side" objectives within the day.

Now on day 9, the time window for the major order to kill over 3 billion foes of democracy has closed, with the Helldivers coming just short of completion. While inspiring, the resolve of Super Earth's citizens remains the same. It was neither a terrible loss nor a great victory for morale. In the meantime, Automatons have attacked Wezen in the Ymir sector, and the Terminid infestation has expanded onto Erata Prime in the Umlaut sector yet again. Although resistance on the Eastern Front against this rapid expansionism has held strong, the Western Front loses planet after planet due to the majority of Helldivers solely focusing on the East and refusing to lend aid to the undermanned West in all but the direst of straits.

Despite this, a major emergency has emerged from the seemingly low-priority loss of Varylia 5. Mimicking our EXO factories on Tien Kwan and perhaps even in reaction to the training facility they'd found and destroyed on Vernen Wells, the bolted menace has constructed a massive factory on Varylia 5. An SEAF surveillance satellite, Security, has been observing its construction and intercepting Automaton communications which call this factory a "Petafactory." With this behemoth active, the construction rate of new Automatons on the planet is estimated to be approximately three and a half times as fast as any other planet. For now, the additional troops produced by the factory have remained on the planet, providing some of the strongest resistance to mass Helldiver deployment that we've seen to date. But if SEAF fails to stop it in time, we will most likely look forward to seeing a surge in Automaton numbers across the entire galaxy. With the Western Front already at a constant backpedal, failure of the major order could be a potentially fatal blow to humanity.

If the planet can be secured in time, the Federation plans to convert the petafactory into a production facility for the latest iteration of the EXO-49 Emancipator. Armed with twin autocannons on each arm, it could seriously tip the scales in our favor against the more armored targets that the Patriot suffers in prolonged combat against.

In order to prepare and teach Helldivers the power and operation of autocannons in anticipation of the Emancipator, Helldivers have been ordered to secure at least 50 kills using the hand-held AC-8 Autocannon.

And finally, just now, the Battlefront tactical update system used by all active Super Destroyers to inform Helldivers of the movements of the Galactic War has just sent out a galactic message. This message warns of the increased Automaton resistance but downplays it as a "last-ditch effort," when in fact, the Automatons are currently at the height of their power. Press harder, indeed, but be wary.

Give 'em Hell, Divers!

For all our sakes.

[eretzyisrael]

By  Ryan Saavedra

A massive fire that broke out over the weekend at a factory in Iran is reportedly linked to the country’s nuclear program, raising suspicions that the fire was an act of sabotage.

Iran International reported that the fire, which was not widely reported outside Iran, erupted in the Shadabad iron market in Tehran.

Israeli intelligence research center Intelli Times said that the fire “consumed two metal factories that were engaged in the production of chips for parts of centrifuges and valves that can be used by Iran’s nuclear industry.”

The report said that the damage from the fire was cross-referenced with satellite images of the industrial area and maps identifying the companies located at the facilities.

One company that was burned down provides “engineering design and engraving services for the production of centrifugal compressors and valves,” while the other company that was burned down manufactured valves and pipes for the gas industry.

The valves and pipes can also be used by the nuclear industry to support uranium conversion and enrichment plants, the report said.

[head-post]

Ukraine to Face Famine in Autumn

The harvesting campaign is ongoing in Ukraine. This year’s forecasts are bleak. The war with Russia and weather anomalies have led to huge losses for farmers. In the pre-war year 2021, the harvesting campaign brought 86 million tonnes of grain to the country. However, this year, if Ukraine harvests at least 50 million tonnes of grain, it will be a great victory. Owing to the reduction of sown areas, shortage of labour, as well as a lack of fertilisers and a record drought, the industry is in a deep recession. The energy crisis has only aggravated the situation in agriculture. Experts predict famine in Ukraine.

WAR FACTOR

The entire agricultural industry in Ukraine remains in an extremely difficult state today. The largest number of agricultural companies closed down in Ukraine during the war – 1,261 companies for the period from 2022 to the first quarter of 2024 inclusive. Last year too, agricultural companies closed down most often. Among all closed organisations, a record of 15 per cent fell on agro-enterprises. In the first quarter of 2024, the figures deteriorated further and totalled 18 per cent.

The output depends directly on the area sown, but it is still declining. Prior to the war, about 28 million hectares were sown. Now – a little more than 21 million hectares. The front line covers more than 400,000 hectares of agricultural land. Some of the territory is under the control of Russian troops, some lies in the front line, somewhere there are minefields and fortifications.

Apart from that, the problems with grain storage remain. More than 15 per cent of grain storage facilities are lost or damaged today. Therefore, every sixth grain storage facility of the total volume of grain enterprises has suffered damage. Out of 344 objects taken by satellites for assessment, 75 of them were found to have visible damage, according to the press service of the US Department of State, citing a study by the Conflict Observatory, a non-governmental organisation.

LABOUR SHORTAGE

The tightening of the mobilisation law has affected the entire industry. Agriculture is facing a serious labour shortage. This applies to many areas, including animal husbandry. There are almost no men under 60 years of age left in rural areas. First of all, representatives of professions that are in demand in the army, such as tractor drivers, machinists, engineers, as well as veterinarians, are drafted to the war.

On average up to 20 per cent of workers of exclusive specialities are mobilised in large companies, while in small farms sometimes up to 50-60 per cent. Agricultural enterprises have to search for workers among those who will definitely not be taken to war. Hence, they recruit mainly old people and pensioners.

NATURE’S UNPLEASANT SURPRISES

The weather has been a serious challenge for farmers this year. There were frosts in May, while the end of spring and summer in Ukraine turned out to be one of the driest in the last 30 years. The heat wave and drought affected crops in the southern and eastern regions the most. In the northern part of the country, particularly in the Zhytomyr region, spring crops such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers suffered due to hail.

The deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Rada, Denys Marchuk, said that weather anomalies may reduce the yield of spring crops by a third: “Losses will be significant. There is no rain… The losses will amount to about 30-35 per cent. This will hit the export potential very hard. Consequently, it will affect the economic condition of farms.” Now farmers fear rains, which can negatively affect the harvest and the quality of grain.

LACK OF FERTILISER

Since the conflict broke out, most of Ukraine’s fertiliser production capacity has been halted due to the fact the plants work with explosive and toxic materials. Those of the production facilities that continue to operate today cannot compensate for the country’s fertiliser shortage.

At the beginning of the year, Ukraine recorded shortages of key fertiliser types. For instance, the supply of urea to agricultural producers for spring field work did not exceed 65 per cent. Traders and large buyers buy up this type of high-performance mineral fertiliser most often, resulting in a shortage of fertilisers, which triggered a rise in prices for these products, leading to unnecessary spending by farmers.

ENERGY CRISIS

Frequent power cuts, tariff hikes this summer and rising fuel and lubricant prices have negatively affected agriculture. The use of diesel generators means additional production costs for farmers. These factors have led to an increase in the prices of manufactured products.

Over the year, butter price increased most of all – by 16.1%, bread (+10.1%), milk (+8.3%) and cheese (+7.8%). Fish price increased by 5.9%. Moreover, the tendencies to price growth are still in place.

BLEAKING PREDICTIONS

Ukraine will face famine. Oleh Soskin, a former adviser to the second President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, made the statement in his YouTube blog. The Ukrainian expert believes that despite poor crop forecasts, grain is being actively sold off, which may eventually lead to a shortage. “It is quite possible that there will be no grain left for food, it is already being actively sold. There will be left for a couple of months or so.”

Oleh Soskin accused the Ukrainian Presidential Property Management Directorate Volodymyr Zelensky of approving the sale of food stocks at the minimum price. According to the expert, with such an approach, the country’s economy is threatened with collapse as early as autumn 2024.

As of today, the economic situation in the country is extremely severe. The sociological service of the Razumkov Centre has published the survey, which shows that one third of the Ukrainian population can only afford food, and every tenth Ukrainian does not have enough money even for food. The survey took place this summer.

The majority of forecasts seem pessimistic. For example, in the last few months the price of flour has increased by 50 per cent. This will lead to the increase in bread prices by at least 20 per cent. Bakers expect supply disruptions. The main thing is that bread should not disappear from the shelves. On the background of general war fatigue, poverty and hunger, the population will be extremely furious, which may lead to various negative scenarios: from political crisis in Ukraine to civil war.

THE ARTICLE IS THE AUTHOR’S SPECULATION AND DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE TRUE. ALL INFORMATION IS TAKEN FROM OPEN SOURCES. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSIONS.

Bill Galston for Head-Post.com

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA-Designed Greenhouse Gas-Detection Instrument Launches

Developed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the imaging spectrometer will provide actionable data to help reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.

Tanager-1, the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s first satellite, which carries a state-of-the-art, NASA-designed greenhouse-gas-tracking instrument, is in Earth orbit after lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:56 a.m. PDT Friday, Aug. 16. Ground controllers successfully established communications with Tanager-1 at 2:45 p.m. PDT the same day.

The satellite will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to measure methane and carbon dioxide point-source emissions, down to the level of individual facilities and equipment, on a global scale. Tanager-1 was developed as part of a philanthropically funded public-private coalition led by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper. Planet Labs PBC, which built Tanager-1, and JPL are both members of the Carbon Mapper Coalition and plan to launch a second Tanager satellite equipped with a JPL-built imaging spectrometer at a later date.

“The imaging spectrometer technology aboard Tanager-1 is the product of four decades of development at NASA JPL and truly in a class of its own,” said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. “The data that this public-private partnership provides on sources of greenhouse gas emissions will be precise and global, making it beneficial to everyone.”

Once in operation, the spacecraft will scan about 50,000 square miles (130,000 square kilometers) of Earth’s surface per day. Carbon Mapper scientists will analyze data from Tanager-1 to identify gas plumes with the unique spectral signatures of methane and carbon dioxide — and pinpoint their sources.

Methane and carbon dioxide are the greenhouse gases that contribute most to climate change. About half of methane emissions worldwide result from human activities — primarily from the fossil fuel, agriculture, and waste management industries. Meanwhile, there is now 50% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was in 1750, an increase largely due to the extraction and burning of coal, oil, and gas.

“The Carbon Mapper Coalition is a prime example of how organizations from different sectors are uniting around a common goal of addressing climate change,” said Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper CEO. “By detecting, pinpointing, and quantifying super-emitters and making this data accessible to decision-makers, we can drive significant action around the world to cut emissions now.”

The imaging spectrometer aboard the satellite measures hundreds of wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth’s surface. Different compounds in the planet’s atmosphere — including methane and carbon dioxide — absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify. These infrared fingerprints can enable researchers to pinpoint and quantify strong greenhouse gas emissions, potentially accelerating mitigation efforts.

Tanager-1 is part of a broader effort to make methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable. That effort includes using measurements provided by NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation), an imaging spectrometer developed by JPL and installed on the International Space Station.

More About Carbon Mapper

Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by delivering data at facility scale that is precise, timely, and accessible to empower science-based decision making and action. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper constellation of satellites supported by a public-private partnership composed of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.

IMAGE: This artist’s concept depicts one of the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s Tanager satellites, the first of which launched on Aug. 16. Tanager-1 will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at JPL to measure greenhouse gas point-source emissions. Credit: Planet Labs PBC

[arthurdrakoni]

Flag of the Dominion of Manchukuo

This is the flag of the Dominion of Manchukuo. It comes from a world where the World Wars never happened. There were still tension between the major colonial powers, and occasional flare-ups, but no major wars ever occurred. Thought, it wasn’t all fun and games. The Austro -Hungarian Empire suffered a rather nasty collapse. Russia still suffered a civil war, and the royal family were executed, but the Whites came out on top. Still, a major worldwide war thankfully remains only a hypothetical scenario.  

Japan sought to expand its empire much as it did in our world. Korea still became a Japanese colony, as in our world, but Japan didn’t try to suppress Korean culture to the extent that it did in our world. In fact, forced assignation programs were officially ended by the late 1920s. As in our timeline, the Qing Dynasty of China was overthrown and replaced by a republic. However, Japan acted as a peacekeeping force to ensure stability within the fledgling Republic of China. Japan also invested money into joint economic ventures within China. However, in return, Japan requested preferential treatment in all trade agreements with China. Japan also requested that Manchuria be ceded to them, which China readily agreed to. Thus, the province of Manchukuo was born. 

Manchukuo provided raw materials for Japan’s growth and expansion, as well as new living space for Japanese citizens. Manchukuo provided a launch pad for the next phase of Japan’s expansion. Japan would not just expand outwards across East Asia, but also upwards into space itself. However, this could not be a task that Japan could accomplish on its own. Japan courted the United States of America as a partner by appealing to the economic opportunities a space program would create. Manchukuo served as the heart of Japan’s rocket production and launch facilities. The other major colonial powers initially didn’t pay the Japanese-American space program much mind. Then the first artificial satellite was launched, and then the first manned space flight. The nations of Europe really sat-up when Japan and America made major advances towards the Moon. Japan and American intended to set-up settlements to mine resources from the Moon. Britain, France, and Germany soon established their own joint space program to compete with Japan and America. 

The 20th Century was marked not by wars and totalitarianism, but by progress and optimism. The major powers of the world achieved major advances in spaceflight and technological innovation. America and Japan added other nations to their space alliance. China was first, but Mexico and Cuba followed soon as well. Mexico and Cuba enjoy a standard of living equal to that of America, and are largely free of corruption. The Philippines, upon receiving their independence, also joined the alliance, and enjoys economic prosperity equal to that of Japan and America.  

By the present day, numerous permeant colonies have been established across the solar system. The nations of the Pan-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere are particularly well represented. Still, the members of the London-Berlin-Paris-Rome Axis are certainly no slouches when it comes to space colonization. Nuclear fusion reactors, running on helium-3 from the lunar mines, provides clean and cheap power for much of the world. Advances have also been made in the efficiency of solar panels, and floating wind turbine balloons capture the strong breezes of the upper atmosphere. Artificial intelligence and the Internet are even more advanced than in our own timeline. Decolonization still occurred, but the former colonial powers made sure to invest in the economies and infrastructure of their former colonies. Most former colonies still have strong ties to their former rulers. Some colonies opted to become incorporated into their parent nations. For example, Gabon opted to become part of the French metropole.  

Japan allowed Manchukuo to receive increased autonomy over the years. Eventually, Manchukuo became a self-governing dominion of the Japanese Empire. Manchukuo even has its own royal family, via a cadet branch of the Qing royal family. Manchukuo is reasonably happy with its relationship to Japan. Recently, however, several revelations have shaken this good will. It has come to light the Japan used slave labor from Manchukuo and Korea at several of its rocket facilities during the early days of the space program. These slave laborers were typically poltical dissidents, and those deemed undesirable by the Japanese government. The 21st Century has a general feeling of optimism. And yet, many wonder what other skeletons Japan is hiding in its closet. 

The flag features the color gold, a traditional symbol of Manchuria. It features the imperial seal of Manchukuo in the center. The white is to offset the gold bands, and pairs well with the gold. The flag ratio is a Canadian Pale, though in the world of the flag, the term is instead known as the Manchukuo Pale.

Link to the original flag on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/05/flag-of-dominion-of-manchukuo.html?m=0